Getting Started With SQL Azure series:
1. What is SQL Azure?
2. Creating First SQL Azure Database
3. Provisioning and Billing Model
4. SQL Azure Architecture
5. SQL Azure's security model
6. Migrating Databases to SQL Azure
7. Administration Tasks - I
8. Administration Tasks - II
9. Developing SQL Azure applications
10A. Getting started with SQL Azure reporting and SQL Azure Data SYNC
10B Conclusion
As summarized, above list were the set the topics that you need to
know to get started with SQL Azure. In addition, I hope that I have
given you an idea of what SQL Azure has to offer. Using this knowledge, I
would like you to encourage and explore the use cases of SQL Azure. For
instance – this case study: http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Windows-Azure/Flavorus/Ticketing-Company-Scales-to-Sell-150-000-Tickets-in-10-Seconds-by-Moving-to-Cloud-Computing-Solution/4000011072
. In couple of sentences, what they do is they spawn large number of
databases that are used for a small amount of time by an application
that requires high-throughput. Therefore, it is the perfect example of
how SQL Azure opens new set of possibilities and at the same time, SQL
Azure tries it best to support the traditional SQL Server centric
scenarios. To understand better the difference between SQL Azure and
SQL Azure, conceptually following image may help:
Both solutions are essentially Microsoft’s RDBMS but are different in
certain manners. I have tried to point the differences during the
series – and I hope you understand that there is a difference from
architecture standpoint as well as from technical (Developer, DBA)
standpoint.
Moreover, when the series was being written – SQL Azure federations
was not publicly available but, good news is that it is now open for
public! SQL Azure federations provide the out of the box solution for
“scaling out” your databases. To learn more about this unique feature,
you can go to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/hh597452.aspx
In addition, I would say that SQL Azure has rapid service update
cycles. Therefore, within a year, you may find 4-5 service updates. To
keep track of what is new in SQL Azure, please visit: http://beyondrelational.com/whatisnew/sqlserver/azure.aspx. In addition, few upcoming projects are posted on SQL Azure labs. Check those projects out! Link: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlazurelabs/default.aspx
In addition, have a look at SQL Azure Interview QA’s and I hope you are now able to answer these questions! http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/07/25/sql-server-azure-interview-questions-and-answers-guest-post-by-paras-doshi-day-25-of-31/
At the end, I thank you for following the series and I hoped you got a head start on SQL Azure.